A bronze coin of Juba II of Numidia

There are nearly 1,300 coins amongst the assemblage of finds from Piercebridge. Most represent types which were circulating in Britain in the Roman period. However, there are a couple of more unusual coins, which perhaps you wouldn’t expect to turn up in County Durham. Amongst these is a bronze issue of Juba II . Juba II reigned as client-king of Rome over Numidia and Mauretania (an area which covers modern Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) in the late 1st century BC. He had spent his childhood in Rome, as a ‘hostage’ and had been raised by Julius Caesar and later Augustus. He even married the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Cleopatra Selene II.

It is not clear how one of his coins arrived in Piercebridge, although ‘exotic’ coins like this one, do occasionally turn up in large assemblages, particularly those from temple sites. Perhaps it arrived in the pocket of a traveller, soldier or merchant who had visited or lived in North Africa and thought it an appropriate personal offering for the Gods…

The tomb of Juba II in Tipaza, Algeria (Wikipedia)